Collision Repair Columnists

Protecting Surfaces From Rust in Collision Repair

Modern vehicles in the North American market offer a multitude of refinements and cutting-edge technologies, but one element continues to attack components: corrosion. What is corrosion? Corrosion is a natural…

Documentation and Substantiation

Good repair planning is becoming critical in ensuring today’s vehicles are repaired safely, efficiently and profitably.  As we head into a new year, it is important for collision repairers to…

Gaining Momentum

Environmental initiatives backed by real data are changing the recycling landscape. We’ve seen over the last few years; how environmental sustainability practices continue to gain momentum within the automotive recycling…

Automotive Paint Put to the Test

The paint coating on vehicles offers much more than mere aesthetics. It provides protection to the vehicle’s bodywork. To ensure this protection, a battery of tests is conducted to evaluate…

Key Driver

The better the estimate, the better the repair and the better outcome for your business. As vehicles have become more complex, the need to perform repairs properly has become ever…

Overcoming Bottlenecks

Solutions to help reduce and eliminate delays in the repair process.  In the collision repair industry, time is money. The more efficiently we can repair vehicles, the more profit we…

Changing the Dynamic

Sustainability practices are altering the perception of auto recycling and resulting in greater collaboration between industry stakeholders. Over the last decade, we’ve seen environmental sustainability become an ever more important…

The Importance of Good Mentorships

Effective training, employee empowerment and better customer service are just some of the benefits. There’s no question that two of the biggest issues facing the collision repair industry are staffing…

Successful Integration

As synergies between collision and mechanical repairs increase, the need for consistent and high work standards becomes more important. Over time, as vehicle technology has advanced,…

Change and Opportunity

Meet the new Executive Director of OARA, Mathieu P. Dagonas. I’m very excited and feel privileged to be appointed as the next Executive Director of the…

Protecting Surfaces From Rust in Collision Repair

Modern vehicles in the North American market offer a multitude of refinements and cutting-edge technologies, but one element continues to attack components: corrosion. What is corrosion?…

Documentation and Substantiation

Good repair planning is becoming critical in ensuring today’s vehicles are repaired safely, efficiently and profitably.  As we head into a new year, it is important…

Collision repair columnists

As Canada’s leading national collision repair and management publication, covering collision repair news, trends and events, we bring together industry experts, so they can share their advice and insights with you, our professional audience.

Body shop

As an auto body shop owner, you know how quickly the industry is changing. Today’s auto body shops have to deal with numerous challenges, which is why our team of expert columnists is at the ready to inform and provide the insight and guidance auto body repair shop owners, and their technicians need. Whether searching for information about auto recycling, automotive paint or any other car body repair shop issues, we have the experts on hand to help you navigate the challenges and uncertainties that are sure to come our way as the industry continues to change, evolve and advance.

Car colors

As most bodywork repair professionals will acknowledge, today’s automotive paints are sophisticated chemical products. Working on modern finishes and paint colors requires more than a simple ability to spray paint a panel. The modern body repair workshop needs to be concerned with how the many products they use will work together to best match the car body color with the replacement part’s color following an automobile collision. Training and practice are key to doing the job right, and today’s body shops need to manage a number of moving parts, including the health and safety of all workers. Safety at work is a key concern, and our team of experts and columnists can keep you informed of changes in the industry that will impact your business.

Auto parts shortage

Thanks to the pandemic, we’ve seen a global auto industry parts shortage that no doubt has impacted your business. This mean that today’s collision repair professionals aren’t simply concerned about damage assessment, or finding the right color code, or how to choose paint color variations that make sense. Instead, one of your biggest challenges is dealing with the auto body parts shortage. Depending on the type of vehicle you’re working on, it would seem that it’s easier nowadays to deal with requests for changing car color than it is to find the parts you’ll need to put the car body back together again.

Future of collision repair industry

With so many challenges facing our industry, our team of columnists is working hard to keep you ahead of the learning curve. One of our columnists, for example, recently addressed the challenges many body shops are facing, based on a survey conducted by the CCPQ (Corporation des carrossiers professionnels du Québec). The study spelled out some of the financial and insurance issues you have to deal with, and recommended a number of steps that could help resolve some of these stresses. The bottom line is that our industry is changing, and quickly. Your day-to-day concerns are not about mundane issues like vehicle color or how to find the color code for the vehicle you’re working on. And as car technologies continue to evolve and advance, you’ll be dealing with more complex issues like EV battery recycling or the calibration of ADAS systems. Rest assured, our team of experts will be there to offer timely advice, when you need it most.